This invention is directed to an artificial putting green.
Artificial putting greens are well known as illustrated by the U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,303 to Alderson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,853 and No. 5,916,034. These constructions, as is typical with other known constructions, are either very expensive to construct or maintain or do not provide realistic ball reception and roll qualities.
It is therefore an object of this invention is to provide an artificial putting green which is easily constructed.
Another object of the present invention is an artificial putting green which provides feel or ball roll resistance substantially duplicating that of a natural putting green.
Another object of the present invention is an artificial putting green of defined area.
Another object of the invention is an artificial putting green with border members.
Another object of the invention is an artificial putting green with adequate resilience to depress sufficiently to receive incoming golf balls and sufficient recovery to rebound and provide a smooth putting surface.
Another object of the invention is an artificial putting green with infrastructure to remove sharp variations occurring randomly over the ground surface.
Another object of the invention is an artificial sports playing surface with infrastructure to remove sharp variations over the ground surface providing a smooth even playing surface.
The instant invention is directed to an artificial putting green of a defined area formed to include a base, an intermediate layer extending over and supported by the base, an artificial putting surface including a pile fabric supported by the intermediate layer, and an edging arranged about the defined area. The pile fabric is arranged to extend over the upper edge and down the outer side of the edging where it is secured.
The edging comprises a plurality of pieces interconnected with elongated securing members forming pivotal connections. The edging pieces include a vertical panel with a plurality of upper and lower superimposed horizontal shelves extending from a first side thereof. Each edging piece is more than two feet in length while each upper and lower shelf is about five inches in length and is separated from adjacent of the upper and lower shelves by a gap of about one half inch which forms a flex point. Each pair of the superimposed horizontal shelves receives an elongated securing member which further secures the pieces in desired positions.
The artificial putting green includes a golf cup retaining tube which is embedded in the base. A golf cup is carried in the retaining tube. The pile fabric which is cut to form flaps which pass over an upper edge of the retaining tube and extend into the retaining tube to a position between an inner surface of the retaining tube and an outer surface of the golf cup. The retaining tube and golf cup here act to grip the flaps holding the pile fabric in position.
An artificial sport playing surface of a defined area having improved stability and feel which includes a base and an intermediate layer positioned over the base.
The intermediate layer comprises a PYRACELL layer covering the base. The PYRACELL layer includes a synthetic sheet formed with a plurality of raised conically shaped hollow cells over its upper surface arranged in equally spaced positions. A plurality of drainage holes are formed in between certain of the cells and a non-woven porous web is secured to the lower surface of the sheet. The web covers the open ends of the cells which maintains them clear while at the same time allows drainage through the holes. A coarse sand is applied over the upper surface of the sheet at least substantially up to the top surface of the cells. The artificial sport playing surface supported by the intermediate layer. The course sand may also be applied over the base at fill in selected areas.
The artificial sport playing surface includes a pile fabric with pile in the range of xc2xexe2x80x3 to 1xc2xdxe2x80x3 in height and fine sand filling the areas between and about the pile up to a point about xe2x85x9xe2x80x3 to {fraction (3/16)}xe2x80x3 below the pile tips.
The sport playing surface when used as a putting green provides a surface with adequate resilience which also compresses sufficiently to accept a golf shot, but returns quickly to its original position presenting a smooth uniform surface providing adequate feel.
The cells are arranged along X and Y axes in parallel rows with adjacent cells being spaced by about 1-xc2xcxe2x80x3. The cells are conical shaped decreasing in diameter by about xc2xdxe2x80x3 from bottom and top.
The coarse sand is mortar grade sand which fills the area between the cells to a height which is substantially equal the height of the top surfaces of the cells.
An edging encircles the defined area. The edging is secured with the base by spikes located at spaced intervals about the defined area.
Each edging piece includes a plurality of upper shelves and lower shelves, which are vertically spaced by about 1xe2x80x3 and are longitudinally spaced by about 1-xc2xcxe2x80x3. The longitudinal spacings form flex points which allow the edging to be bent or flexed so that it conforms with the shape of the defined area.